Articles for tag: Mission Trips

February 27, 2015

Christian Standard

Venturing into the Unknown

By Jennifer Johnson It”s common to hear of youth groups participating in short-term mission trips, both here in the United States and around the world. Usually these trips are meticulously planned with detailed itineraries, long packing lists, and organized daily activities. Calvary Christian Church in Bellevue, NE, does things a little differently. For more than a decade, teens from Calvary have participated in “Destination Unknown,” five-day trips that begin with a surprise. “The morning we”re scheduled to leave, we meet in the church parking lot and draw a distance and a direction (north, south, etc.) from a hat,” says Scott

January 5, 2015

Christian Standard

Going Strong

By Jennifer Johnson “I am the least likely person to lead a trip of women,” Gayla Congdon said during our interview. “I grew up with brothers and I”m not a “˜woman”s retreat” kind of person. I want to do something that matters.” Apparently she”s not alone””the Women of Strength trips she started in 2012 have had to be capped at 65 people, and dozens of ladies have attended more than one. A significant number of the participants aren”t even Christians, but find the experience more than worth the investment of money and vacation time. Actually, Congdon does think “women”s events”

November 7, 2014

Christian Standard

Missions Ministries that Work: Christ’s Church Mandarin

By Jill Thomas We have had great success in missions in the short time I”ve served as local and global outreach director with Christ”s Church, Mandarin Campus, in Jacksonville, Florida. One of our biggest successes in local missions has been in getting many more people involved. Between our neighborhood groups wanting to take on more local projects, and families in the church who want to start serving each month with their children, we”ve seen many new faces serving the community on a more consistent basis. We have also seen more life change because of our missions programs. Several adults and

July 12, 2014

Christian Standard

Quality First

By Gayla Congdon (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I’ve Ever Received.”) Some of our best advice came from the late, great Mike Yaconelli (Scott and I received this advice from him when he was a member of the Amor Ministries board): “Focus on quality and quantity will come.”Â  Mike”s advice was based on his belief we were measuring our effectiveness based on the number of participants coming on trips. We took his advice and shifted our mind-set to creating a quality mission trip that was relationship-based versus numbers-based. The result was that growth came in significant numbers.Â

August 17, 2013

Christian Standard

The “˜Real World” After College: The Spiritual Care and Feeding of Twentysomethings

Three young adults show why traditional, typical approaches to reaching them may not always work.    By David Embree   Ben Metzger grew up in a small town where his family was active in a tight-knit, Bible-believing church. Before he even moved into his college dorm room, his congregation”s youth leaders connected him with a campus ministry where he developed close friendships and studied the Word of God intently.  As a part of the campus ministry, he went on mission trips and led small groups that helped younger students face the spiritual and intellectual battles of the university experience. Ben enjoyed the “college-age”

March 25, 2013

Michael C. Mack

A Great Group Is More than a Huddle

By Michael C. Mack The best college football game ever (in my humble opinion) was the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. It pitted the favored Oklahoma Sooners (the winningest football program in the nation since World War II) against my favorite team, the Boise State Broncos. It was touted as David versus Goliath. The game was full of spectacular plays and trick plays, an 18-point comeback by Oklahoma, many dramatic game-on-the-line moments, several unbelievable fourth-down conversions, and a sensational overtime. Boise State won when Ian Johnson ran in a two-point conversion on a Statue of Liberty play. Then, if that wasn”t enough,

September 17, 2012

Christian Standard

A Big Heart for Missions

By Francis Nash While studying history and broadcasting, which became my eventual full-time profession, I found myself behind the pulpit in 1968 at Sugar Grove Christian Church in rural Bath County, Kentucky, six miles from any town. My interest in mission work was ingrained by my childhood love for geography and the mission displays I had visited every year while attending the North American Christian Convention with my family. As a congregation of mostly middle-income families numbering around 85, Sugar Grove””which I continue to serve””had not been exposed much to mission work. I detected a reluctance to commit to other

August 20, 2012

Christian Standard

Here They Come . . . and There They Go

By Mike Armstrong College campuses across the country will soon be flooded with the next class of new students. Also arriving will be thousands of the most promising students from around the world, with more than half of these coming from the world”s least-reached nations. Both American and international students will arrive with dreams and plans for their college careers and their futures. But what most will not realize is that when they arrive on campus, God is already there. Many of these students will encounter God in ways that will change their lives. Saying “hello” to these new students

July 11, 2012

Christian Standard

A Mission, Not Just a Mission Trip

By Mark A. Taylor Maybe the best line in the panel interview article posted this week comes close to the end of it. Luke Erickson, from Mountain Christian Church, in Joppa, Maryland, shared the question the church asks anyone interested in community service projects or mission trips overseas: “How are you engaged in your own neighborhood?” It”s a question born of genius. It prods the would-be servant to get out of himself and into the church”s mission. For example, I may feel good about “sacrificing” a couple hours to work in a food pantry; I may think I”ve given a

February 29, 2012

Christian Standard

Sending and Supporting Missionary Kids

By Lana West These kids are confronted with special opportunities and unique problems. The first step to helping them is understanding the world through their eyes. The issue of taking children to a foreign mission field and raising them overseas has long been a matter of debate. Grandparents wonder, “Will they be safe? How will they be educated? Will they have proper medical care?” The local church asks, “How can we support a family with so many children? Why do they have so many children? How can they do the work they are called to do and care for their

February 28, 2012

Christian Standard

“˜Commissioned”: NMC Becomes ICOM

By Chris DeWelt The National Missionary Convention became the International Conference on Missions at its gathering last fall. The conference seems set to continue what it does best: challenging thousands with the opportunity and needs for world missions. From the moment I heard that Wing Wong of China was the 2011 National Missionary Convention president, I knew it would be a great gathering. My anticipation grew when Wing visited Ozark Christian College a few months before the convention and immediately endeared himself to hundreds of students. Wing”s unique combination of humor, passion for Christ, and humble spirit connected with more

November 20, 2011

Christian Standard

“˜Drop in the Bucket” Ladies Ready to Bring Blessings

By Jennifer Taylor Beth Ladd, a teacher and the wife of New Hope Christian Church senior pastor David Ladd (Everett, WA), met each Monday to pray with her friend Debbie Powell. After the 2004 tsunami hit Indonesia, the two friends said, “I wish we could go there and help.” After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, they said, “We can go there and help. Let”s do it.” Like other volunteers around the country, Ladd and Powell organized a group to travel south and help the churches and people of New Orleans. However, their yearly “drops” have continued””to Louisiana, Oklahoma,

October 24, 2011

Christian Standard

Lesson for Oct. 30, 2011: Seeking True Happiness (Matthew 5:1-16)

This week”s treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson (for October 30) is written by Jonathan Hentrich, associate pastor with Christ”s Church of the Capital District, Guilderland, New York. ____________ Seeking True Happiness (Matthew 5:1-16) By Jonathan Hentrich I want to be happy. Not just to have little moments of smiles and laughter, but to have true happiness. I crave a confidence deep in my soul to know that I am content, full of purpose, and alive! Like David Thoreau once said, “I want to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.“   Jesus” Definition In today”s

March 10, 2011

Christian Standard

Our Annual Campus Tour

By Mark A. Taylor Several trends are notable in our annual “campus tour” this year. Our colleges have become externally focused. The reports are rich with accounts of mission trips and community service projects. Many of these schools are thrusting their students into the world for a taste of the service they will render after they graduate. Our colleges continue to strive toward excellence. Two are changing their names to reflect a redefined mission. Others describe new degree programs, several building projects, cooperative programs with other universities, and in one case, a total campus move. Although many of these colleges

February 28, 2011

Christian Standard

Learning to Trust

By Clark Tanner Do you have a life verse? Almost 30 years ago I was challenged to find one. I can remember the location perfectly. My wife and I had been invited by several people from our church to attend a weeklong gathering at the Navigator”s Conference Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. During one of the morning sessions, a speaker challenged us about having a life verse from the Bible. Then, in our small group discussion, people kept talking about their life verses and how meaningful they were. I remember thinking, I just need to know the Bible””why a life

October 14, 2010

Christian Standard

Partnering with God to Help a New Orleans Church

By Jennifer Taylor Indian Creek Christian Church (Indianapolis, Indiana) is more than halfway through “Project 52″“”a 52-day challenge to complete construction on a new church building in New Orleans with at least 5,200 hours of labor and an additional $52,000 in funding. Five years after Hurricane Katrina ripped through the city, New Orleans residents “are still rebuilding their lives, particularly spiritually,” writes Indian Creek senior minister Gary Johnson. “That”s why a group of people has formed a church called The Gathering and have established it . . . where some of the greatest destruction occurred.” The time, money, and labor

May 26, 2010

Christian Standard

Campus Ministries”“A Strategy for Spiritual Growth

By Mark A. Taylor As we have for several years now, this week we”re publishing a directory of all the campus ministries supported by Christian churches and churches of Christ across the United States and around the world. Although these congregations pour millions of dollars into Christian colleges and universities, we do well also to remember the ministry on secular campuses indicated by the listings in this directory. Our support of campus ministries will include financial gifts, of course, but that”s only a beginning. Many of them eagerly look for involvement by local churches. Contact the campus minister close to you and

May 17, 2009

Christian Standard

How Some Churches Are Ministering to and with Older Adults

    By Amy Hanson Today”s older adult ministries are much different than 30 years ago. There is no longer one single approach that makes a 50-plus ministry successful; rather, there are a variety of methods being used to reach this rapidly growing age demographic. Here are just a few of the innovative and effective strategies being used by churches across the country.   Small Groups as a Tool for Evangelism Community Christian Church (www.communitychristian.org), a multisite church in Naperville, Illinois, has a site at Carillon, a 55-plus living community. Earl Ferguson, pastor at Carillon, says small groups have been

March 29, 2009

Christian Standard

What Is the Glue?

  By David Faust In a 1910 lecture at Yale, Charles E. Jefferson described the difference between a church and an audience, It is to be regretted that we have come to . . . judge preachers by the number of persons who listen to their sermons. A superficial man is consequently tempted to work, not for a church, but for an audience. An audience, however, is not worth working for. An audience is a group of unrelated people drawn together by a short-lived attraction. . . . It is a fortuitous concourse of human atoms, scattering as soon as

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